This invention relates to stable and efficacious insecticidal fertilizer mixtures comprising a fertilizing component and an agonist or antagonist of ion channels in the insect nervous system.
Agonists and antagonists of ion channels in the insect nervous system are known. It is also known to use fertilizers in granular form for broadcast application to turfgrass and to use fertilizers for ornamental houseplants in the form of small fertilizer sticks or impregnated cardboard strips that are pressed into the nutrient substrate of the plants. Also known are mixtures of fertilizer granules with insecticides and/or other pesticide products for treatment of turfgrass and tablets containing dimethoate as insecticidal active substance and fertilizer for treatment of ornamental houseplants, but the action of such mixtures is not completely satisfactory. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,783,203 describes mixtures containing fertilizers and agonists or antagonists of nicotinergic acetylcholine receptors of insects, but the method described therein, while useful in part because it can provide increased uptake of pesticidally active components into plants, has not been found useful for preparing granular fertilizer mixtures that effectively and rapidly release ion channel agonists or antagonists into the soil. Liquid fertilizer systems, such as those containing agonists or antagonists of nicotinergic acetylcholine receptors described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/041,167, are also known but are not useful for solid fertilizer systems.